Fire broke out at Cumberland Island National Seashore on Wednesday morning. At about 7 a.m. park officials were notified by Camden County 911 of visible smoke. When firefighters arrived on scene, they found a small fire burning in mixed vegetation including grasses and trees in the Willow Pond area.

A Chatham County man who was fined for keeping a cow too close to his neighbor's property is appealing his case. Phillip Grimes bought a young steer to fatten up for a few months before slaughter. He kept it in a pen on his Ferguson Avenue property. But after someone complained, Animal Control cited him, not only for the cow but also for chickens. A recorder's court judge sided with Animal Control despite Grimes producing evidence that his cow was farther away from his neighbor's dwelling than is required by the ordinance. Including court fees, he had to pay more than $600.

I spent the day Thursday travelling down I-95 with a sea turtle and a corn snake as my fellow passengers. The curator of the Tybee Island Marine Science Center, Lindsay Gunzburger, invited me along to report on the animals' visit to the vet at the Georgia Sea Turtle Center. The star of the show, of course, was the sea turtle, Salty. More on him and his woes are coming tomorrow.

It didn't take long for this osprey to find the new nesting platform just installed on Johnny Mercer Blvd. by Turner's Creek. Boy Scout Joshua Johnson spent months getting the permits and permission needed -- along with donations -- to erect a more suitable new home for a pair of osprey nesting near a live wire. It went up late last month as an Eagle Scout project.

The summer may belong to sea turtles along the coast of Georgia -- especially last summer when they nested in record numbers -- but the winter's most spectacular visitor here is arguably the right whale.

NOAA Fisheries Service issued a reminder today that North Atlantic right whale calving season begins in mid-November and runs through mid-April.

The third annual Identity Safe Data Destruction Day will take place 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 12 at the Chatham County Resource Conservation and Education Center, 1321 Eisenhower Drive. Chatham County is partnering with Shredex to help protect residents from identity theft by providing on-site shredders for sensitive documents. All shredded paper will be recycled. Old electronics, such as computers, will also be accepted for recycling during this event; identifying information will be wiped from hard drives. The event is free and open to the public.

This is Max, one of about 70 animals the Humane Society for Greater Savannah managed to adopt out over the weekend as part of a nationwide contest to improve adoption numbers compared to last year. I wrote about the contest for Friday's paper.

Two river cleanups are coming up and one even offers the free use of a kayak to spur on some green cleaning. Students who need community service volunteer hours may want to participate. I've been to the Hayner's Creek event and it's a good time to get your feet wet (so to speak) kayaking while doing a good deed.